The Longwood Covered Bridge

The Longwood Covered Bridge. . , The Kennedy Family , Emmett Loren Kennedy was born July 5, 1848. I 1870, he worked for his father, Archibald M. Kennedy, on the first bridge built by the Kennedy family. Upon completion of this bridge at Dunlapsville, in Union County, Indiana, Emmett became a partner with his father in the bridge building business and was business manager throughout the three-generation business of building bridges. The signage on the first bridge indicated the builder as A. M. Kennedy. After officially joining the business, the signage changed to A. M. Kennedy and Son., It isn't clear when a second son of Archibald's, Charles Freeman Kennedy, born September 25, 1853, joined the business, but in 1871 the signage on the bridges became A. M. Kennedy and Sons., Around 1883, Archibald withdrew from the business and Emmett and Charles became partners and the signage changed to, Kennedy Brothers. Charles was severely injured in a fall during the construction of the Circleville Bridge in Rushville in 1883, and officially withdrew from the business in 1886. the signage then changed to E. L. Kennedy and remained that was until Emmett's sons joined the firm in 1913, then it became E. L. Kennedy and Sons. Those sons ere Charles Ross Kennedy, born March 29, 1892, Karl Archibald Kennedy, born December 15, 1893, and John William Kennedy, both March 20, 1896. The last bridge built by the family was the Mitchell Bridge in Wayne County, Indiana, in 1918., [Caption:] , The Longwood Covered Bridge was built by the Kennedy Brothers in 1884. The bridge was originally built over Williams Creek near Glenwood, Indiana, and was named for its proximity to the Longwood Station on the B&O Railroad. In 1984, on its 100th anniversary, the bridge was moved to this location in Roberts Park., The Kennedy family of bridge builders favored the Burr arch truss system for its stability and ability to support long wood spans with little or no midstream support. This insures great strength and rigidity without excessive bulk. Shorter spans used the Howe or Multiple Kingpost truss system., The wood favored by the Kennedy family was white pine due to its availability, its strength, and its lightness of weight so that it didn't add more actual weight to the structure. Emmett Kennedy would make periodic trips by rail to northern Michigan to contract the white pine logs and oversee the shipment back to the bridge yard in Rushville where the timbers were then transformed into the beams necessary for the specific bridge, including the boring of holes for the bolts that held the structure together. No nails were used on the structure itself. When it was time to add the flooring, roofing, and siding, then nails were used., The structures built from 1870 to 1892 had the following characteristics: , . Decorative molding at the entrance portals on each side that alluded to Roman columns. , . Hand-carved scrollwork on the side trim of each portal. , . Hand-carved ornate corbels or brackets beneath the roof overhang gable at each entrance. , . Horizontal hung siding, to distribute the weight along the length of the bridge. , . Shingled roof. , . Siding always painted white by mixing linseed oil and shite lead in a large vat at the bridge site. , . Bridges built after 1892 did not have the first three characteristics because the Victorian era had come to an end, and those characteristics were a decorative element to reflect the influence of the Victorian time period.